Supreme Immortal Gu Dwelling.
Meng Qiuzhen explored yet another dream.
Mountains swathed in deep clouds. Meng Qiuzhen sat cross-legged at the edge of a cliff, beneath him the thunderous roar of a waterfall.
"Immortal! Immortal!" A battered youth, scraped and bloodied, scrambled forward on hands and knees until he knelt before Fang Yuan, begging to be taken as a disciple.
"You wish to become my student?" Meng Qiuzhen smiled faintly, inwardly surprised, continuously speculating about the rules governing this brand-new dream.
In the past, he would have had to probe with his own body. But now he had a Dream Path Immortal Gu in his hands — Dream Butterfly!
He immediately activated the Dream Butterfly Immortal Gu covertly to conduct reconnaissance, all while stalling verbally: "A mere mortal like yourself — to have gone through such hardship and trouble to reach my presence, there must be fate between us. I possess three Paths of cultivation. I can teach you one of them."
The youth who sought to become his disciple was ecstatic. He kowtowed so hard his forehead struck the hard stone, producing a series of muffled thuds.
Meng Qiuzhen continued, "The first among them is called Formation Path. Formation Path focuses on..."
Meng Qiuzhen spoke at length, and what he said was indeed true — nothing was fabricated.
The youth nodded hesitantly: "Venerable Immortal, although Formation Path cultivation is very complex, I will certainly work hard to learn!"
But Meng Qiuzhen shook his head and added, "There's no rush. I have a second Path, called Strength Path. Strength Path is fierce and direct, its advantage lies in..."
After Meng Qiuzhen finished speaking, the youth looked even more energized: "I would very much like to learn Strength Path!"
Meng Qiuzhen smiled again: "And I have a third Path here — Wisdom Path. Strength Path is extremely common, but Wisdom Path is exceedingly rare, yet endures through the ages. Within it..."
After yet another grand exposition, the youth was bursting with excitement: "Immortal! Immortal! This humble one most wishes to study Wisdom Path. Please grant me this, Venerable Immortal!"
At that moment, the Dream Butterfly Immortal Gu finally completed its reconnaissance of the entire dream.
The dream was quite large — it contained eight scenes altogether.
As it turned out, the Immortal had once accidentally caused the destruction of a mortal village, and among the dead were the youth's own parents.
The youth was left alone in the world, suffering every hardship life could offer, never knowing who had killed his family.
After enduring every manner of tribulation, the youth finally managed to become the Immortal's disciple. He was gifted with exceptional talent — one of the Ten Absolute Bodies — and it was supremely compatible with Wisdom Path cultivation.
The youth eventually discovered that his enemy was none other than his own master, and so he embarked on a campaign of revenge.
The final scene was a climactic duel between master and disciple, with tremendous difficulty.
"No matter what I teach, this disciple will master it completely — and he will even innovate beyond it, surpassing his teacher. Moreover, he will cultivate Wisdom Path alongside it, wielding extremely sharp Wisdom Path techniques."
"That means this first scene is the rarest and best opportunity to weaken this disciple!" Meng Qiuzhen understood clearly.
Without the Dream Butterfly Immortal Gu, he would have had to probe with his own body. By conventional calculation, he would certainly fail on his first attempt, suffering damage to his soul.
Meng Qiuzhen would need to heal, wasting both time and resources. Only then could he regroup and attempt the dream's exploration once more.
But now, with the Dream Butterfly Immortal Gu, he held the initiative. He was no longer so passive.
Though the Dream Butterfly Immortal Gu could only conduct reconnaissance, the value of critical intelligence was often the hardest to estimate.
Looking at the youth before him, Meng Qiuzhen considered for a moment, then smiled faintly: "Very well. I shall teach you a cultivation method from Wisdom Path. This method is not my own invention, but after my improvements, I have named it — the Nine-Nine Multiplication Table."
"The Nine-Nine Multiplication Table?" The youth's eyes lit up. Just hearing the name, he felt it sounded incredibly grand and mystical, brimming with an immortal aura.
Meng Qiuzhen continued his ruse: "Nine is the ultimate of numbers, Nine-Nine represents infinity and boundlessness, and multiplication itself is the wondrous essence of all natural laws and the Great Dao — it cannot be understood without profound comprehension. Come, I shall now teach you the first killing move — one times one equals one!"
The youth held his breath, both ears pricked up, murmuring and repeating under his breath: "One times one equals one, one times one equals one, one times one equals one..."
Before long, they arrived at the final scene.
"Master, this is my last—"
"Silence! Do not call me Master, you treacherous disciple. I am not your master."
"No — even so, I must call you that one last time..."
"Silence! I toiled to nurture you, taught you the most powerful technique I have ever created — the Nine-Nine Multiplication Table — and you repay kindness with enmity!"
"No, Master. No matter how angry you are, the blood feud is a fact. This enmity cannot coexist under the same sky. Allow me to call you Master one final time..."
But Meng Qiuzhen did not respond. Instead, he immediately activated a killing move and attacked his disciple.
The disciple choked with frustration, that final "Master" forever stuck in his throat.
This was precisely the effect Meng Qiuzhen wanted. Because he understood this disciple — the disciple's self-created Emotion-Indulgence Killing Move was extraordinarily powerful, capable of amplifying the emotional might of all Wisdom Path techniques. If he were truly allowed to speak those words, his heart would flow unimpeded, and he would be able to unleash the Emotion-Indulgence Killing Move.
If he managed to activate the Emotion-Indulgence Killing Move within this dream, his advantage would be enormous, and breaking through would become extremely difficult for Meng Qiuzhen.
The battle unfolded just as Meng Qiuzhen had anticipated. He attacked relentlessly, giving his disciple no opportunity.